“The ultimate light can only be found in the ultimate darkness.”
― White Mage
The Black Mage, formerly known as the White Mage, is a recurring evil entity that threatens Maple World, and was also the Transcendent of Light before his death. His actions have impacted the story of many other classes, most notably the Heroes.
As the primary antagonist of Maple World, the Black Mage threatened the world centuries before he was sealed away by the Heroes prior to the present day.
The final battle against the Black Mage took place at Limina in the Arcane River, where he was defeated by the Adversary.
Over 800 years ago, a child was born on the continent that would one day be known as Edelstein. This boy was eventually found in a snowstorm in El Nath by a group of mages, who brought him to the Mage Tower. Although the boy could not remember anything from before he had been rescued, including his name or his home, the mages sensed a powerful aura emanating from him, and so they took the boy in and decided to teach him magic.
Over the years, it soon became clear that his magical power was so unparalleled that his talent quickly exceeded that of even the wisest among them. On the day that he came of age, the mage council summoned him in order to bestow his official title upon him.
To their shock, however, the boy performed the forbidden art of light magic before them. His masters strongly admonished him for his actions, reminding him that light and dark magic stemmed from the same root, which was the reason why both were forbidden. However, the boy responded by simply asking them if they would let their fear prevent understanding.
That night, the shaken elders met in secret and peered into the future, in which they discovered that if the boy were to continue his pursuit of ultimate light, he would bring about the end of Maple World. Horrified, they resolved to kill him before their prophecy came to pass. Upon storming his quarters, however, they found the room empty.
The boy then revealed himself on the roof and asked if they had come to teach him one final lesson. The mages used their most powerful spells, but none of them did even the slightest damage to him besides a small cut on his cheek.
Realizing that his masters really had come to kill him, he decided that he wouldn't hold back either. He showed them his mastery of light magic, which he used to slay them all. As he disappeared into the snowstorm, the boy told them that he had hoped to study light magic in the Mage Tower, lamenting that their actions had made it impossible.
The White Mage
Years later, he became a wandering mage who traveled the world for over a decade, saving people from the powerful monsters around them. Because of his platinum hair, he became known as the White Mage. During his travels, he observed that there existed great corruption and instability in Maple World, with countless civil wars, monster attacks, and criminals who took advantage of the helpless amidst the chaos, all of which broke the balance of light. He took it upon himself to find a solution, believing that light magic held the answer to saving the world.
At one point, he built an underground laboratory in the Nihal Desert, where he conducted experiments on the nature of light and dark magic. His research built the foundation for alchemy, and his contemporaries founded a town called Magatia, built atop the White Mage's laboratory.
One day, he had a moment of epiphany, declaring that “the ultimate light can only be found in the ultimate darkness”. With those words, he vanished into the Forest of Peace, a land where no daylight could pierce through. Along with a handful of followers, he founded the society of Aurora to study the nature of light magic.
The Ultimate Light
Over the years, the White Mage began to study dark magic, believing that he could find the ultimate light in the heart of darkness. At one point in his research, he encountered twin Spirits of Darkness. In exchange for helping him understand the darkness, he granted them human bodies and gave them the names Orchid and Lotus. He also met the Fairy Queen Ephenia, who realized that he was quite unlike the humans she loathed. Ephenia developed a soft spot for the White Mage, which soon blossomed into infatuation.
Some years after the founding of Aurora, powerful creatures of darkness known as Omens began to appear around the world. In response to the Omens disrupting his trade, the infamous mogul of Ariant, Hatsar, hired a wandering mercenary to find the legendary White Mage and convince him to stop the Omens. The mercenary accepted the job, not because they wanted the money, but because they felt a sense of kinship with the White Mage and wondered whether he was as sick of the world as they were, believing that it may have been the reason why he had gone into seclusion.
Three months later, the mercenary followed leads on the White Mage's location to Ellin Forest, where they made a deal with Ephenia for the location of the White Mage in exchange for eliminating the human poachers who were kidnapping fairies and grave robbing their resting places. The mercenary noted that Ephenia was clearly enamored by the White Mage, who had promised her that he would bring peace to the world, and wondered what kind of man could captivate even a queen.
With their deal complete, Ephenia directed the mercenary to the Forest of Peace. Along the way, the mercenary encountered a girl named Arin, who was hunting Omens to avenge her family. After learning that the White Mage might have the answer for how to get rid of the Omens, she decided to come with the mercenary.
Three months later, the two discovered the White Mage when he rescued them from a large horde of Omens. He brought them to the Aurora Great Temple in order to rest and recover. The mercenary asked the White Mage what he was doing studying when he had the power to make the world a better place. The White Mage smiled and explained that what he was seeking was infinite knowledge that existed beyond their comprehension, a knowledge that could both complete and evolve humanity. Intrigued by the White Mage's idealism, the mercenary decided to stay and help Aurora with their research. Months later, the White Mage secluded himself in his room, having entered the final stages of his research.
Soon, however, Arin grew impatient with Aurora's apparent lack of concern for the growing number of Omens and decided to solve the problem herself. The mercenary tracked her down and rescued her from a massive Master Omen before taking her back to the Aurora Great Temple. An injured Arin attempted to warn him about something, but fell unconscious soon after.
As Arin slept, the mercenary pondered on her words and soon realized that the Omens had begun appearing around the same time that the White Mage had begun his research in the Forest of Peace, and that the larger Master Omens had begun to manifest around the time that the White Mage had gone into the final stages of his research. Realizing that the White Mage needed to be stopped, the mercenary attempted to force their way past the mages of Aurora into the White Mage's chambers. As the mages blocked the path, the mercenary began to argue with them until they all heard the White Mage's warped voice.
The Ultimate Darkness
The White Mage had stepped into the divine realm, exuberant at having found the ultimate light, the power that could elevate humanity and forever rid the world of corruption and evil. Just then, however, the Overseers' chains of law wrapped themselves around him and firmly held him back. The White Mage cursed the Overseers for keeping the world broken and incomplete, vowing that he would do anything to defy their laws in order to deliver salvation to humanity, even if it meant that he had to destroy the world itself and replace it.
As the horrified mages of Aurora opened the door, the White Mage declared that he could not find the ultimate light - not because he had failed, but because it had never existed to begin with. However, he revealed that there was an ultimate darkness, which he had seen with his own eyes. In that moment, the White Mage embraced the ultimate darkness, the power to destroy, and awakened as the Transcendent of Light.
The resulting explosion destroyed the Aurora Great Temple and mortally wounded all the mages of Aurora. Though on the verge of death, the mercenary attempted to chase down the newly-born Transcendent, intent on killing him before he could destroy the world. Stumbling past the bodies of the Aurora researchers, the mercenary encountered a ball of pure light, the very light that the White Mage had cast away within himself, as an awakened Transcendent of Light could not wield both light and darkness. Upon running into him, the mercenary rechristened him as the Black Mage and charged to attack, though they were easily killed. As Arin cried over the lifeless body of the mercenary, the Black Mage set out to realize his goal.
The Seven Commanders
Knowing that the Overseers manipulated the universe by using the Transcendents as their proxies, the Black Mage sought to remove their influence by creating a world without Transcendents. Though he was standing against a primal power, his sole advantage was that the Overseers, in creating a fixed universe, made it so that all possible futures could be calculated based on known variables.
Though some mortals possessed the ability to see fragments of the future, the Black Mage was able to take advantage of the fixed variables in the universe in order to divine all the countless futures based on those fundamental laws. In this way, he could manipulate events to ensure that his plans succeeded. Because of the laws governing the universe, Transcendents were incapable of destroying each other or themselves. To circumvent this, the Black Mage amassed an army of monsters and gathered seven Commanders to lead them:
Orchid and Lotus - The two Spirits of Darkness whom he gave human form became his twin Wing Masters, to whom he also granted the power to manipulate gravity.
Guwaru - As the great King of Spirits, Guwaru grew angry at humans, who disrespected the spirits and nature itself with their selfishness. The Black Mage took advantage of his anger and corrupted him to evil.
Hilla - Known as the Red Witch of Azwan, Hilla was the most beautiful and powerful Shamaness of Azwan. As she continued aging, she feared losing her beauty and power. When the Black Mage came to recruit her, she betrayed her kingdom in exchange for eternal beauty and the power to resurrect the dead.
Von Leon - The Lion King was a wise man who ruled El Nath benevolently alongside his beloved wife Ifia. As El Nath was perpetually covered in snow, the kingdom was comparatively poor, though its people were happy. When stories of the Black Mage's destruction began to spread, the Anti-Black Mage Coalition was formed. The coalition approached Von Leon and requested that he join, but Von Leon refused to involve himself, as he didn't want to create a target on his kingdom, believing that the Black Mage would leave them alone since the kingdom had little to offer. Taking his refusal as a sign that he had sided with the Black Mage, the coalition stormed his castle, resulting in Ifia's death. In despair, Von Leon sold his soul to the Black Mage in exchange for the power to exact revenge on those who destroyed his kingdom and his true love.
Arkarium - The High Priest of Rhinne, the Goddess of Time, Arkarium was once the most devout of the Goddess' priests until he had a vision of the future in which the Black Mage would reign victorious. Choosing to serve the winning side, he swore his loyalty to the Black Mage.
Magnus - A Nova from Grandis, Magnus was exiled by his people and swore loyalty to Grandis' Transcendent of Life, Gerand Darmoor. After being fatally injured by Kaiser, Magnus' lifespan was shortened as a result of Darmoor using his powers to heal him. In order to find a way to restore his lifespan, Darmoor ordered Magnus to travel through the Interdimensional Portal in order to find a way to restore himself. After approaching the Black Mage, Magnus agreed to become a Commander in exchange for having his vitality restored.
The Demon - A half-blood demon who escaped Tynerum with his human mother and half-blood brother, Damien, after they realized that Tynerum was too dangerous for them to stay in. Soon after settling in southern Leafre, the Demon realized that the Black Mage was a great threat to Maple World. He swore his loyalty in exchange for having the Black Mage promise to ensure the safety of his family. He soon ascended in power and became the Black Mage's most loyal and powerful Commander.
With his Commanders gathered, the Black Mage gained the forces needed to battle the other Transcendents. However, the biggest problem that remained was how he would be able to destroy himself. In all possible futures, there was no situation in which he, as a Transcendent, could be killed. He knew that he needed to create a being who could change fate, and so he decided to create an Adversary.
Just as in eons past during the Ancient War, a mortal who bonded with a Godsphere would gain a power greater than that of the Ancient Gods and the Transcendents alike. Though he knew that he could create an Adversary, he also knew that they would be the most unpredictable variable in his plan, as the Adversary needed to be pushed to their very limits in order to gain the determination needed to activate the power of the Godsphere. In order to force the Adversary into awakening that power at the critical moment, the Black Mage planned to subliminally influence their decisions.
As the Godspheres operated on the collective determination of the masses, he made it a priority to push the world into resisting the idea of a fixed future, as their strong desire would be channeled through the Godsphere as the Adversary championed their strongest wish. Simultaneously, he promised his Commanders a place in his new world order, though he secretly intended to have them eliminated before they realized that he intended to destroy everything. In this way, he would force the people into rallying against him, while also keeping his Commanders in line.
To carry out the Genesis Ritual, the Black Mage needed the powers of creation and destruction, along with a high volume of pure Erdas. To obtain creation and to aggregate a high concentration of Erdas, he needed to create a convergence of the three worlds, which would allow him to not only siphon the Erdas generated from the collision, but also steal the powers of creation from another Transcendent of Light.
As a world without active Transcendents automatically sought out another world to merge with in order to maintain its balance of Transcendents, the Black Mage planned to seal the other Transcendents of Maple World, as well as himself. He began a war of conquest with his Commanders and planned to use them to fight against the other Transcendents, while simultaneously drawing out the very heroes who would seal him.
Destroying Aurora
The Black Mage soon attempted to destroy it by attacking the remaining members of Aurora. The ball of light, which had shot up into the sky and dropped down as a human child, was named Luminous, also known as the Starchild. Believing that the Black Mage thought that the remnant of his light was a threat to him, the mages of Aurora attempted to protect the Starchild by moving their headquarters to a pocket dimension called Harmony.
Even in spite of their countermeasures, however, the mages knew that the Black Mage would one day come for Luminous. In order to protect him, they raised a girl named Lucia, who was also strong in light magic, as the false Starchild. Luminous grew up as best friends with Lucia, unaware that she had been raised as a lamb for slaughter. When the Black Mage came to destroy the last of his light, Luminous managed to escape and Lucia remained behind to be killed in his place in order to make the Black Mage believe that the threat of the Starchild had been dealt with.
Fall of the Onyx
When the Black Mage heard of the might of the Onyx Dragons, he approached Afrien, the King of the Onyx Dragons, and offered to form a Spirit Pact with him instead, hoping to take the power of the Onyx Dragons for himself. Sensing the Black Mage's evil soul, Afrien refused and turned him away. In retaliation, the Black Mage wiped out the Onyx Dragons, leaving Afrien and his egg as the sole survivors.
Assassinating the Empress
As the war continued raging, Empress Aria worked tirelessly to put an end to the fighting. The Black Mage soon reached out to Aria and proposed a conference to discuss terms of peace. However, he instead sent Orchid and Lotus to attack Ereve, resulting in the death of Aria, her Knight of Light, and a majority of the Noblesse.
Sealing the Transcendents
As a result of attacking Aurora, the Onyx Dragons, and the Empress, the Black Mage began drawing out brave warriors would would stand up to him and seal him away. Six Heroes: Freud, Aran, Mercedes, Phantom, Luminous, and a pirate whose name was lost to time, stood together and began preparing to defeat him.
With the time of his sealing fast approaching, the Black Mage began using his Commanders to seal away the other Transcendents, which would begin the fusion of Maple World and Grandis. He and the Commanders soon attacked Alicia, the Transcendent of Life, and attempted to steal her powers for himself. Alicia managed to escape and soon sealed herself away deep beneath the World Tree in Root Abyss, where she spent the next several centuries recovering amidst the strong life energy of Sleepywood.
Soon after, the Black Mage and his Commanders sieged the Temple of Time and attacked Rhinne, the Transcendent of Time. Through her power of time, Rhinne foresaw that the Black Mage would attempt to steal her powers. However, as the Transcendents of Time were unable to change their destiny, Rhinne attempted to circumvent her fate by creating a child through her teardrops, who would inherit her powers.
Before her priests could take the child to safety, the Black Mage invaded the Temple of Time with his Commanders. Arkarium then blinded Rhinne, while the Demon stunned her in place, allowing the Black Mage to steal her Transcendent powers. He then used the power of time to seal both Rhinne and her child into a different dimension.
With the power of time, the Black Mage then pulled Kritias of the past - at the very moment that King Hekaton's Ascendency ritual failed - into the present. He realized that Tana - whose powers Hekaton had been attempting to steal - was actually Aeona, Grandis' Transcendent of Light. As Tana held the power of creation, the Black Mage planned to steal her powers in the distant future when the time was right.
In order to ensure that Tana's existence would remain secret, the Black Mage ordered the Commanders to invade Kritias, thereby destroying all traces of Tana. He then sealed away the entire kingdom away in a pocket dimension where time stood still until the time came to begin the Genesis Ritual.
Due to the safeguards that the Overseers had placed, a magical backlash was created from the Black Mage stealing the powers of Rhinne, which not only weakened the Black Mage, but also created a tear in the fabric of spacetime in the form of an Interdimensional Portal that led to Grandis.
The Final Battle
After conquering the Temple of Time, the Black Mage decided to set into motion the fateful events that would cause him to be sealed. He chose to praise the Demon's contributions in the battle while deliberately ignoring Arkarium's efforts, knowing that it would make Arkarium jealous of his rival. While the Demon rested after the battle, the Black Mage ordered the other Commanders to destroy the rest of Ossyria.
Hoping to get revenge, Arkarium attacked the Demon's family home in southern Leafre, resulting in the Demon's mother being killed. In order to get insurance against the Demon, Arkarium also manipulated Damien - whose latent demon powers had awakened in the attack - into joining the Black Mage, promising that the Black Mage would help bring his mother back to life.
Soon after, the Demon learned about the attack on Leafre and rushed home, only to find his house aflame. Believing that both his mother and Damien had perished, the Demon swore revenge on the Black Mage and wrote a letter to the Heroes, outlining his betrayal. He then engaged in a fierce battle with the Black Mage and managed to destroy the Black Mage's protective barrier, but he was ultimately no match for his former master.
Meanwhile, the Heroes received the Demon's letter and realized that they had the perfect opportunity to face the Black Mage. The Heroes attacked the Temple of Time, where Freud, Mercedes, and Afrien faced the Black Mage. Upon realizing that they had no hope of defeating him, Freud decided to use their backup plan to seal the Black Mage away with the power of the Godspheres, which Freud had recreated by extracting their divine power, which had permeated deep into the continent after the end of the Ancient War, and refashioning into gems that he called Seal Stones.
Soon after, Luminous and the pirate hero entered the throne room, where Freud temporarily froze time in order to explain his plan. He revealed that he had planted five Seal Stones around the Black Mage during their battle, and that he had placed a spell on the Seal Stones, which would allow them to absorb the power of time that the Black Mage had stolen and turn it against him.
As the sealing spell required the time of a living person as a catalyst, the pirate hero chose to sacrifice his existence, removing every trace of his existence from the world. Freud then restarted time, allowing Luminous to face the Black Mage. Luminous used the full extent of his light magic to counter the Black Mage's dark magic, leaving the Black Mage no choice but to use the power of time.
Immediately, the Seal Stones absorbed the stolen power and activated the Seal of Time, which would bind the Black Mage to eternity. As the Black Mage attempted to break the seal, Luminous charged forward to stop him. However, the physical contact between the Black Mage and the last remnant of his light resulted in a power transfer, and Luminous inadvertently absorbed a trace of the Transcendent's dark power, turning one of his eyes crimson red.
The Black Mage was then sealed behind the Gate of the Present. With the power of time sealed away with the Black Mage, the Interdimensional Portal in Maple World also disappeared. Before he was sealed, however, the Black Mage cast a final curse upon the Heroes, causing them all to be frozen in ice. Centuries from the future, Arkarium traveled back in time and attempted to break the seal on the Black Mage. However, the Silent Crusade stopped him from completely destroying the seal.
The Big Bang
Though Arkarium was stopped, his actions caused the seal to weaken and degrade over the span of centuries. As a result, the curse on the Heroes also began weakening, causing them to slowly begin awakening from the ice. Centuries after the final battle, Orchid formed the Black Wings in order to revive Lotus, who had been beaten into a coma by Phantom as revenge for taking Aria's life.
In order to help Gelimer - a scientist who had promised to revive her brother - gain enough energy to revive Lotus, Orchid manipulated the Black Wings into obtaining the Seal Stones that the Heroes had left behind. Though the Seal Stones had been created by Freud as failsafe devices to help the people of Maple World restore any damage done by the Black Mage to the continent, Orchid manipulated the Black Wings into obtaining them, claiming that collecting them all would allow them to resurrect the Black Mage, who would grant them all their wishes.
As the Black Wings began their operations to steal the Seal Stones, Athena Pierce believed that there was a possibility that they were hoping to use the Seal Stones to free the Black Mage. In order to ensure that the seal was safe, she asked an Explorer to visit the Temple of Time in order to check on the Gate of the Present.
The Explorer, who held the residual power of an ancient Adversary called the First Explorer, found that the Gate of the Present opened to them. There, they discovered that one of the Seal Stones powering the Seal of Time was cracked. The Explorer returned back to Athena Pierce and explained that not only was the Gate of the Present open, but one of the Seal Stones powering the seal was cracked.
They then suggested replacing the cracked Seal Stone with the Seal Stone of Victoria Island. Athena and the Explorer returned to the Temple of Time, where Athena noted that the Gate of the Present was shut. When the Explorer told her that it appeared open to them, Athena realized that they had a special power that allowed the Gate of the Present to open for them.
The Explorer entered the Black Mage's throne room, where the Black Mage himself began to speak to the Explorer, telling them to turn back because it was not yet time. He declared that he would soon break free, and through his power would the world come to order. He then offered the Explorer a place in his new regime, but the Explorer decided to ignore his words and began to replace the Seal Stone. The Black Mage then asked whether the Explorer had chosen to walk a broken path, just as the cracked Seal Stone shattered. The Black Mage immediately broke free of his seal and quickly disappeared, teleporting the Explorer back to the Tree Doors.
The Black Mage then traveled to Ellinia, where he destroyed the forest and corrupted Luminous' friend, Lania. After Luminous freed Lania from the clutches of the darkness, the Black Mage appeared and mocked Lania for her weakness, claiming that she had faltered before a mere sample of his power. Having both Lucia and Lania taken away from him, Luminous swore that the Black Mage would suffer for what he had done.
The Black Mage asked if Luminous was shaken and called his compassion a rotten crutch. Disgusted with the Black Mage considering love a weakness, Luminous challenged him to a duel and promised to show him the power that love had granted him. However, the Black Mage refused, explaining that he wanted to save their final battle for another time.
Soon after, the Black Mage sent his shadow to destroy Maple Island as punishment for the Explorer failing to obey him. However, the Explorer was able to tap into the residual power of the Adversary inside their maple leaf, allowing them to defeat the Black Shadow. They then used the Seal Stone of Victoria Island to undo the damage done to Maple Island.
With the Black Mage's return, Maple World's most powerful monsters were strengthened by his dark influence, including Zakum, Papulatus, and Horntail.
Gate of the Present
Due to the Black Mage's curse, the elves of Elluel had all been frozen alongside Mercedes, including Lucid. After centuries of remaining awake inside her prison, Lucid desperately projected her consciousness as far as it could go in an attempt to escape, allowing her to inadvertently stumble into the Black Mage's dreamscape. Sensing Lucid's presence, the Black Mage recognized her talents and promised her eternal life and the chance to see the new world that he would create in exchange for her loyalty.
To hear that such a powerful being needed her was all that Lucid desired, and so she readily accepted his offer. The Black Mage freed Lucid from the ice and ordered her to create a false future in the Temple of Time, one in which he reigned victorious after Empress Cygnus betrayed the people of Maple World. Lucid broke into the Temple of Time and used her powers to manipulate the Gate to the Future, creating the dreamlike illusion which the Black Mage had asked her to make.
Realizing that the people of Maple World had lost trust in the Cygnus Knights, Empress Cygnus decided that she would create a world-wide alliance against the Black Mage. After gathering the major world powers, including the Explorers, the Resistance, and the Heroes, the First Continental Conference was held and the Maple Alliance was formally created. With the formation of the Alliance, the Black Mage hoped to unite the people of Maple World in their determination to resist the idea of a predetermined future.
The New Commanders
Of the Black Mage's old Commanders, Von Leon, Arkarium, and Hilla were the only three to return to his side. However, the Black Mage soon gained three new Commanders:
Will was a scholar who pieced together that the Black Mage planned to create a new world and joined out of intellectual curiously in order to see the new world for himself. Because of this, he became the Black Mage's most loyal and trusted Commander.
Damien, who had been sent to Tynerum after the Black Mage's sealing, led an army of half-blood demons to Maple World, where he planned to lead them into conquering the world.
Lucid continued expanding her illusion inside the Gate to the Future and created Twilight Perion, which showed that the Resistance had also betrayed the people of Maple World, in order to destabilize the newly-formed Alliance.
Meanwhile, Gelimer transformed Lotus into a Xenoroid and betrayed Orchid, as he planned to use Lotus for his own purposes. Gelimer then approached the Commanders and offered Lotus' body as a vessel for the Black Mage. As the Commanders were plainly aware of his lies, they accepted him as an ally, though they refused to make him a full Commander.
Root Abyss
Having returned to power, and with Maple World on an unstoppable collision with Grandis, the Black Mage began enacting his plan to eliminate the Transcendents of Maple World. After learning the location of the World Tree, he dispatched Damien in order to secure her. Damien and his demon army traveled to Root Abyss, where he discovered Alicia slowly regaining her powers.
Rather than capturing her then, he told Alicia that he needed her at full strength and placed a seal on Root Abyss to prevent her from leaving. To guard her, he created four Seal Guardians: Von Bon, Pierre, the Crimson Queen, and Vellum. However, the Alliance soon learned of the existence of Root Abyss and mobilized its forces to rescue the World Tree. The Alliance was successfully able to defeat the Seal Guardians and brought Alicia back to Ereve, where she was absorbed inside the gemstone on Shinsoo's forehead for her safety.
The Elite Bosses
As he required minions of unimpeachable loyalty, the Black Mage hoped to create monsters infused with his Transcendent powers that would remain incapable of betraying him under any circumstances. He learned that centuries ago, the kingdom of Sharenian had fallen to Ergoth Dunamis, who had trapped Commander Kellad and his Sharenian Knights in a mirror dimension designed to look like Sharenian.
Inside that dimension, Kellad and his knights had spent centuries reliving the fall of Sharenian over and over again, eventually losing their sanity from the mental fatigue and killing each other, leaving Kellad as the last one standing. As Kellad had sworn an ironclad oath to protect the people of Sharenian, the Black Mage decided to take advantage of the situation in order to turn the Sharenian Knights into his minions.
The Black Mage used his powers to disguise himself as Prince Sharen IV, who had died centuries ago during the fall of Sharenian. Taking advantage of Kellad's weakened mental state, the Black Mage revealed the truth about the mirror dimension to him. Posing as Sharen, he reminded Kellad about his oath to serve the people of Sharenian and manipulated him into pledging eternal loyalty to him, claiming that he was the last living person in Sharenian.
After securing Kellad's loyalty, he gave Kellad the Rubian - a gemstone said to have rare powers, which had spurred Ergoth into attacking Sharenian. Though the Rubian had no powers in actuality, the Black Mage infused it with his Transcendent powers and gave it to Kellad, claiming that he could use it to revive his fallen knights.
Kellad then broke out of Ergoth's mirror dimension and returned to the real Sharenian. There, he encountered five Explorers who had come to the palace ruins in search of treasure and used the Rubian to fuse their bodies with the souls of his fallen comrades, who became known as the Elite Bosses. He then fused himself with the body of Ergoth Dunamis, transforming himself into Guard Captain Darknell. Darknell and the Elite Bosses then pledged themselves to the Black Mage, who shed his disguise as Sharen and appeared to them as the White Mage.
Mirror World
Soon after, the Black Mage entrusted Will with keeping the child of Rhinne imprisoned. Inspired by Ergoth's ability to create a perfect replica of Sharenian, Will recreated the dimension in which the Black Mage had trapped Rhinne and her child into what he called Mirror World, a replica of Maple World.
However, Will soon realized that he couldn't handle the immense power of Rhinne's child. In order to weaken them and to corrupt them with his influence, he split the child into two beings. He trapped the girl inside the Child of the Goddess' own temple and brainwashed the boy into serving him and his Shadow Knights, who had been tasked with keeping the boy trapped inside Mirror World.
Despite his attempts at containing them, however, the boy eventually freed his counterpart. Renaming himself Alpha and his sister as Beta, the twins were able to defeat Will and free their mother, after which they awakened as the new Transcendents of Time. Despite being vessels for the Transcendent's power, however, the twins remained divided and weakened, leaving them unable to function as a full Transcendent, thus removing them as Transcendents whom the Overseers could work through.
Cygnus Awakens
With Alicia's powers having returned to full strength, the Black Mage ordered Damien to kidnap her from Ereve. While Cygnus and her court were away, Damien and his demon army sieged Ereve and defeated Shinsoo before capturing Alicia from within Shinsoo's gemstone. Cygnus and the Chief Knights rushed back to Ereve, where they found Shinsoo mortally wounded. Believing that Shinsoo had died, Cygnus' shock triggered the latent Transcendent powers of her bloodline, causing her to awaken as a Transcendent-in-reserve.
Black Heaven
Some time after betraying Orchid, Gelimer finished construction on Black Heaven, a massive airship controlled by Lotus. After finalizing his plan with the other Commanders, Gelimer launched his fleet to destroy the Alliance, hoping to be promoted to Commander with the success of his plan. The Alliance met the Black Wings in air combat and learned that Gelimer was planning bomb Maple World with Retoxin, a chemical which would allow him to control all the people of Maple World in a hivemind centralized around Lotus.
With the combined effort of the Alliance - particularly one Alliance member - Gelimer was defeated and killed. However, the Alliance member was fatally injured after being exposed to a high concentration of Retoxin. With the full support of the Alliance, Cygnus used the final Seal Stone in existence to revive the Alliance member.
As the Seal Stones had been implicitly channeling the desperate wish of the people of Maple World that the Black Mage not return to full power, its destruction removed the final limitation on the Black Mage. Unbeknown to them all, however, the Seal Stone recognized the Alliance member as one who represented the will of the people, causing it to choose them as its Vessel.
As the people of Maple World celebrated the Alliance's victory, Arkarium reported Gelimer's defeat to the Black Mage, though he added that Gelimer's death had been assured when he had approached them with deceit. However, the Black Mage ignored his words and instead told him that the shape of destiny had been twisted, and that a new Adversary had appeared with the power of the Seal Stone. Arkarium offered to handle them personally, but the Black Mage forbade him from intervening, instead tasking Damien and his demon army to carry out their next move.
Heroes of Maple
On the Black Mage's orders, Damien led his demon army to conquer Maple World. However, Damien planned to betray the Black Mage by using the Transcendence Stone, located on Earth, in order to steal Alicia's powers and become the new Transcendent of Life. He manipulated the Heroes of Maple, who had gathered together once again to stop him, into locating the stone for him, which he then used to steal Alicia's powers.
However, the Heroes managed to defeat him and used the Transcendence Stone to scatter Alicia's lifeforce to restore the vitality that Damien had drained from Maple World. As a result, the Black Mage was successfully able to defeat two of the three Transcendents of Maple World, with Zero being divided and weakened, and Alicia being scattered across the world.
With Alicia being eliminated, the Black Mage was able to steal the Erdas that flowed through the World Tree under her protection, allowing him to siphon them and create the Arcane River behind the Gate of the Present. As the last Transcendent of Maple World remaining, the Black Mage ordered Hilla to allow the Adversary to enter the Gate of the Present in order to face him. As the time of Genesis drew closer, the Black Mage also released Kritias and ordered Arkarium to bring Tana to him.
Morass
While the Adversary continued their journey through the Arcane River, they soon encountered Arkarium leading Tana to the Black Mage. As they attempted to stop him, Tana - whose mental state had been deteriorating from the failed Ascendency ritual centuries ago - lost control of her powers and inadvertently trapped them all inside the Morass, which had responded to her powers and recreated the coral reef into a perfect replica of her memories of Kritias.
Eventually, the Adversary and Arkarium both managed to escape from the memory. Believing Tana to be unworthy for the Black Mage, Arkarium attempted to steal Tana's powers for herself, though he was stopped by the Adversary. After regaining control of her powers, Tana effortlessly vaporized Arkarium, who barely managed to escape alive. From the present, the Black Mage ordered his echo - a memory of his past self that Tana had created from her memories - to kill Arkarium.
Esfera
After Tana escaped, the Black Mage ordered Will to capture her and prepare a ritual that would allow him to steal Tana's powers of creation as a Transcendent of Light, which would allow him to use his own powers of destruction to destroy and recreate the world. The Adversary attempted to stop Will and were faced with a choice to kill Tana and stop the ritual, or to allow the Black Mage to have the power of two Transcendents. Unwilling to take Tana's life, the Adversary chose to spare Tana, resulting in the Black Mage taking Tana's powers. With all the elements of the Genesis Ritual ready, the Black Mage began draining the Arcane River in order to use the Erdas to create a new world.
Limina
With the final battle approaching, the Alliance launched its airfleet to Tenebris, the Black Sun, in which the Black Mage awaited them. With the Alliance having recovered a Scroll of Prophecy from the Black Mage's laboratory in Magatia, they discovered that the Black Mage had made prophecies on key events in recent history, including Black Heaven, the fall of the World Tree, and even the creation of Tenebris.
Over the course of the battle of Tenebris, the Alliance also discovered that the Black Mage had been manipulating events for centuries by placing them on the Path of Destiny, which would inevitably lead to the destruction of their world. As the Adversary threatened to fall into despair at the realization that they were fated to lose, Cygnus revealed to them that they were the Adversary of Destiny, and that they had the power to step off the Path of Destiny laid out by the Black Mage.
The Adversary then entered the heart of Tenebris and confronted the Black Mage. From the Throne of Darkness, the Black Mage addressed the Adversary and told them that their path had always been preordained. The Black Mage then used his power to create his two knights of light and darkness, the Aeonian Rise and the Tanadian Ruin.
After the Adversary defeated the knights, the Black Mage got up from his throne and addressed the Adversary, claiming that they hadn't seen what he had. He explained that he had seen the chains constricting the world, a careless god, and people without a purpose. He then invited them to approach and meet their destiny.
The Adversary then fought the Black Mage alongside Orchid, who had turned against him after realizing that his manipulations had resulted in Lotus' death. As they continued battling, the Black Mage entered the Genesis Crux - the seed of the new world - and planned to begin the Genesis Ritual, which would destroy the world.
The Adversary attempted to summon the divine power of the Seal Stone by focusing on their determination to sacrifice themselves. When the Seal Stone failed to activate, however, the Adversary remained aghast that even this very moment had been preordained by the Black Mage. As they lamented that they had been unable to step off the Path of Destiny, Tana's formless shape appeared from within the Genesis Crux and reassured them that they had the determination to see things through, and that everyone was counting on them to stop the Black Mage.
She then told the Adversary that the world needed them alive, not as someone who had given up. Her words helped the Adversary realize that they had been prepared to sacrifice themselves all the while that they had faced the Black Mage, but what they instead needed to believe was that they had to survive and save everyone, including themselves.
The Adversary was then teleported by Orchid back to the White Spear, which Cygnus commanded to pierce straight into the heart of the giant, whose heart was the Genesis Crux. The Adversary jumped off the deck of the ship and fell straight through the giant's heart. With the power of the Adversary, they summoned the divine blade and entered the Genesis Crux, plunging their sword straight through the Black Mage's heart. Soon after, however, the Adversary's body was destroyed as they scattered into Erdas.
In the Erda Flow, the Adversary awoke and wondered whether they had died before finding that the White Mage was standing before them. The White Mage explained that their body had been annihilated, and that their soul would dilute and disappear after some time. He then congratulated them on their victory, explaining that they had saved the world.
The Adversary asked why he had appeared before them if the battle was over. The White Mage replied that he only wanted to share a few words, as he had been waiting to speak with them for a long time. The Adversary was surprised that he had been waiting for them, to which he explained that they were the only one who could save him from the prison of immortality.
He noted the irony that the very nature of a Transcendent prevented them from destroying themselves. The Adversary then realized that his ideal world without Transcendents also included erasing himself. The White Mage confirmed their thoughts and explained that it was the very reason why he had needed them.[7][8]
The White Mage revealed that as a result of their actions, they had shattered the fate that had bound them both. He explained that the axis of fate had been tilted the moment when they had refused to take Tana's life. He then asked what had led them to make that decision, to which they replied that it had been because Tana had cried out for help, and that she hadn't wanted to disappear.
After a pause, the White Mage told them that though he been the one to ask them why they hadn't killed Tana, he had perhaps known the answer all along, explaining that he had been in a similar situation. He revealed that the moment that he had awakened as a Transcendent, he had also become a pawn of the Overseers.
He explained that while trapped in his destiny set by the Overseers, he had tried going against them and had eventually succeeding in carving out the future that he had desired. He noted that it was ironic that the same destiny that he couldn't accept had been forced upon the Adversary. He explained that even if someone had set the path of destiny, a soul like the Adversary's, which had been forged from the belief engraved in their heart, could not waver or bend to another's will.
He told the Adversary that such a soul was the result of having lived a life and added that they really were just like him, as they were both people who had fought against destiny. He noted that as the Adversary had traveled, they had likely experienced the beauty of the world, and that they must have met and walked alongside many others. He explained that those experiences had made them evolve into a being who didn't forget to live with harmony, even in the face of despair, and one whose heart could lead the way by shining a light in the darkness.
The White Mage then told the Adversary that life was precious because it was finite, and that, having lost sight of the value of life, he believed that he wasn't qualified to realize his grand ideals. He explained that he had believed that he couldn't change fate as a mortal, and so he had sought to borrow the power of the divine by becoming a Transcendent. He then wondered whether he had lost his qualifications to realize his ideals from the moment that he had cast aside his humanity.
The Adversary suddenly felt a strange sensation as their body began disappearing from their fingertips, to which the White Mage told them that it couldn't have been stopped for long. The Adversary then asked him why he had kept fighting if they had already won when they had changed fate in Esfera. The White Mage replied by asking what they had felt as they had walked the Path of Destiny, when they had begun to question their own free will.
After considering it, the Adversary replied that they had felt a sense of helplessness, as they had known that mortals didn't have the power to change their destiny, as those destinies had been set by gods who were too powerful to overcome, just as the White Mage himself had learned firsthand. However, they explained that they couldn't give up simply because it was difficult, noting that what they had really felt upon learning about the Path of Destiny was both anger and the will to live, all at once.
They added that their desire wasn't some grand dream of wanting to protect the world, but merely the will to fight for what they believed in, their free will, their belief, and their unwavering faith. They told the White Mage that destiny wasn't set by anyone, but rather, it was shaped by them simply living in the present. The White Mage then noted that the higher beings whom they fought against would see their resistance as futile and asked if they still wouldn't give up, even while knowing that. The Adversary agreed that those higher beings would regard them as pathetic and weak, but nevertheless, they believed that they shouldn't accept their destiny without question.
The White Mage was satisfied with their answer, after which the Adversary noted that they now had a better understanding of his thoughts and goals, as being deprived of one's free will and being forced to live in accordance with someone else's destiny was a painful existence. However, they told the White Mage that they still couldn't sympathize with his evil deeds, even in spite of understanding his suffering.
After a pause, the White Mage told them that when he had first learned about the chains of destiny, he had likely felt the same as them. Though he had felt rage when he had realized that he had been losing his free will, he had still felt uncertainty. As he had been alone for all his life, he had tried deciding his own path himself, but the moment that he had stopped believing in himself, he had been shaken.
In contrast, he told the Adversary that making connections with countless people must have helped them during moments when their faith in themselves had been wavering, which made the Adversary recall Empress Cygnus and Tana. After a pause, the White Mage told them that even though his plan had been perfect, he had started questioning it. He cited how Kao had lost to him in the past, and how he had sent them back in time, adding that such a risky action of sending a variable back in time could only be done once.
He then revealed that it was then that he had begun to think deeply and had actually begun to notice the Adversary and the world more closely, noting that so many things had changed since he had first tried to take over the world centuries ago. He explained that unlike the selfish people of his time, so many good people had banded together in order to try and change the world. He added that the one who would lead them was not one who lived in fear, but rather, someone who could unite everyone, unlike himself.
He then told them that their anger, the answer to his question about what they had felt upon discovering the Path of Destiny, was enough. He explained that life was full of trials and tribulations, but if people like the Adversary could come together and work together, they would be able to overcome any ordeal.
He then told them that if the feelings that they had felt were real, then it was enough. As the Adversary began disappearing from the Erda Flow, the White Mage told them to never forget their anger. After a pause, he told them that the world which good-natured beings like them would create would be more perfect than anything that he could have made, and so he was content with leaving it all behind to them. With that, the Adversary returned back to reality as the White Mage faded away.
Convergence
While chasing after Grendel, who was on the path of discovering the Black Mage's true goals, the Adversary, Elwin, and Lily encountered Grendel speaking with the White Mage in the Morass. The Adversary was surprised to see the White Mage, as Tana's memories of Trueffet were set after the White Mage had already fallen. Lily pointed out that Transcendents weren't bound by time and space like they were, meaning that the Black Mage's return to his original form before he died could have influenced moments in the past.
They then heard Grendel speaking in the Black Mage's words, “My echo in Morass can deal with Arkarium. I must focus on my current task, for the path is long and winding. Fate's chains still bind me. But there is still a chance - a small one - that I may break those chains.” With those words, Grendel disappeared once again.
Elwin attempted to open a portal to follow him, but the White Mage's presence terrified him to the point that he couldn't do so. Suddenly, the White Mage teleported before them, immediately scaring the trio. The White Mage reassured them that he wasn't the Black Mage, and that they had nothing to fear from him. Lily asked what he had told Grendel, to which the White Mage explained that he hadn't told Grendel anything, but rather, Grendel had realized the truth about the purpose of the Transcendents on his own.
The Adversary asked him to tell them what Grendel had learned, and so the White Mage told them how the universe had once been ruled by the 365 Ancient Gods who had used their powers selfishly, without regard for the worlds or the morals who inhabited them. Unable to abide such chaos, the universe had forged chains of law to force the gods and all of creation back into order.
Though the Ancient Gods had been chained into unnatural slumber, there was still a possibility that they could still awaken someday. In order to reduce the variables and create a wholly predictable future, the Transcendents had been created as jailors to the gods and enforcers of order.
Lily was shocked that even the Transcendents were slaves to order and asked if Grendel had any more questions. The White Mage told them that Grendel had asked what would become of Maple World with the absence of the Transcendents, and that he had set out to confirm his suspicions. With their questions answered, Elwin created a new portal to follow Grendel.[9][10][11][12] The White Mage smiled softly as they left before scattering into Erda.
Kao's Timeline
In the original timeline that transpired before the current sequence of events, the Black Mage failed to anticipate that Tana's influence as she was escorted through the Arcane River would result in her unstable power reshaping the Erdas of the Vanishing Journey, resulting in the creation of Arma. Because of this, the Adversary from the original timeline - later known as Kao - had their Arcane Power drained by Arma, resulting in a power deficit.
During the events of Esfera, this power deficit resulted in Kao being unable to protect Ollie, who was killed in the process. This event severely shook Kao's mental state and resulted in them making the choice to kill Tana in order to stop the ritual. However, their lack of determination prevented them from awakening the Seal Stone, which made it so that they were unable to kill her.
During the final battle in Limina, Tana did not appear to help Kao awaken the Seal Stone, resulting in them failing to kill the Black Mage. As a result, the Genesis Ritual took place, erasing the world and creating a new one, which appeared as a black hole around which blue and purple stardust curved and formed an accretion disk.
On the rim of the solid stardust, Kao fell unconscious and collapsed as the White Mage manifested himself. Approaching the unconscious Kao, the White Mage noted that the world that Kao had tried to protect had been destroyed, while a new world had taken its place. As he spoke, the black hole behind him trembled as chunks of solid, glowing rock began gathering around the black hole core, slowly forming together into the shape of a planet.
The White Mage noted that while everything had gone according to plan, his own continued existence as the last remnant of the Overseers had resulted in his plan failing. He explained that he had labored and prepared to create a world unconfined by order and fate. Though it had been painstakingly difficult to satisfy every condition - the disappearance of the world, his own death, and the creation of the new world - he had been unable to break the shackles of causality and the order of the world.
While the destruction and recreation of the world had been attainable, he noted that Kao had been unable to kill him. He began wondering where everything had gone wrong, as Kao - exactly as he had hoped - had become the greatest beacon of light and the bearer of the world's determination and will. Furious at the failure of his life's work, the White Mage looked into Kao's memories in order to find where the flaw in his plan had been.
Upon seeing Kao's memories of the Vanishing Journey, the White Mage immediately understood what had happened. Though he had thought that his plan had been a failure, he realized that there had been no flaws in his design, as he had controlled every variable leading up to the intended outcome, though he discovered that there had been one exception. He noted that Tana - a Transcendent like himself - had been the greatest unpredictable variable in his equation, for which he had dealt with her meticulously by locking her in Kritias for centuries and having Arkarium lead her straight to him.
Despite all his careful planning, however, he had been unable to hold back her power entirely, which had manifested in unexpected ways, such as the Erdas in the Vanishing Journey. Realizing where he had gone wrong, he concluded that he wasn't facing a setback, but rather, it was simply another step in his plan.
Though he admitted that he had known that it would be difficult, he also noted that he was content with the knowledge that he still had one last chance to fix things. Using his powers, the White Mage sent Kao back to the past, explaining that even though Kao hadn't been able to change their destiny, if they truly wanted to change the future, he told them to struggle for it and escape their fate, addressing them as the Adversary, the possessor of the Seal Stone.
Due to his nature as a Transcendent who existed outside the laws of time and space, the Black Mage remained aware about the events of Kao's timeline, even as events progressed in the current one. Following his failure to create a new world, the Black Mage began taking notice of the present-day world and realized that unlike the selfish aristocrats of his time who created inequality and suffering, the world had changed considerably after centuries, led by good-natured beings who put others first.
Because of this, the Black Mage began to doubt the integrity of his plan and considered the possibility that the world was not beyond salvation. This belief was further cemented by Adversary's pivotal, selfless decision to save Tana's life, because of which the Black Mage concluded that their current world was worth preserving.
As a result, when the Adversary used the power of the Seal Stone to kill him, the Black Mage deliberately chose not to remake the world and allowed the Adversary and the Alliance to create a better world with their free will, which he believed would be better than anything that he could create with the power of the gods. In a sense, it can be considered that the Adversary's choice to save Tana changed destiny by proving to the Black Mage that humanity was capable of changing themselves through their own determination to be better, thereby changing the Black Mage's mind to spare the world.
Webtoon
Nexon has commissioned the author and artist to make a webtoon called Black Mage: Origin, which serves as a prologue of the Black Mage's story.
It's the theme song of the Black Mage. This song was sung by Hyun-woo Ha, who's famous South Korean rock star.
때가 되었다 - 검은마법사 TVC 15"
MapleStory - Black Mage: "It is time" TV commercial
MapleStory - The End of the Black Mage
MapleStory Black Mage: Chapter 1 "Life"
MapleStory Black Mage: Chapter 2 "Death"
MapleStory Black Mage: Chapter 3 "Rebirth"
MapleStory Black Mage: Chapter 4 "War"
MapleStory Black Mage: Final Chapter "Gathering of Heroes"
MapleStory Black Mage: Prologue "Origins"
MapleSEA Black Mage Alliance to Arms
메이플스토리 검은 마법사 Origin 애니메이션
【メイプルストーリー】Black Mage プロローグムービー
【メイプルストーリー】Black Mage「ヒルラWEB CM」
【メイプルストーリー】Black Mage第一弾「英雄集結」アニメーションPV
【新楓之谷-一切的起源】
Black Mage Origin (TMS)
【新楓之谷】英雄集結,即刻備戰!
MapleStory Black Mage: Prologue
MapleStory BlackMage: Gathering of Heroes
THMS BlackMage Gathering of Heroes
[메이플스토리] 챕터1. 끝나지 않은 이야기
Chapter 1. A Story Has Not Ended
MapleStory Glory Story: Chapter 1
MapleStory Chapter 1. A Dark Destiny
[GLORY]Chapter 1-未完的故事
A Story Has Not Ended
Trivia
The Black Mage shares many similarities with Gerand Darmoor, Grandis' Transcendent of Life. Both are evil Transcendents of their world, had robbed their world's Transcendent of Time's powers, and Magnus is both of their servants.
The Black Mage's signature weapon of chains is meant to symbolize how he weaponized the Overseers' own chains of law against them through using the Seal Stones - their own creation - to destroy the Transcendents, as well as by using their predetermined destiny for the world into creating the future that would lead to his victory.
↑Zero gets exclusive dialogue here, in which he notes that only a Transcendent could stand against him. He explains that the other Transcendents had simply accepted their fates, whether they were their original fates or the ones that he had set upon them. He adds that he knew that Alpha and Beta would turn away from that, or at the very least, that they would fight back.
↑Luminous also gets exclusive dialogue, which is similarly told from the perspective that he's the Adversary. The White Mage explains that Luminous always had the power to face him, as he was once part of the White Mage and the light itself. He then reveals that he had deliberately chosen not to destroy Luminous upon their separation, despite having had the power to end him right there. He explains that in a sense, Luminous was the light that he had sought, as Luminous had his own destiny. He notes that Luminous has just seen that destiny through, adding that he has always believed in him.
↑Several characters get some exclusive dialogue here.
↑Luminous asks the White Mage if the darkness that he had received from the Black Mage will disappear. The White Mage tells Luminous that the darkness is now a part of him and says that he'll just have to learn to love that darkness, just as ‘she' does.
↑Shade asks the White Mage if he knows how to remove the curse on him. The White Mage replies that he doesn't know how, but he tells Shade not to worry, as he'll shortly see that the curse will soon mean nothing. Later on, Maple World fuses with Grandis, bypassing Shade's curse, as there is no longer any need for the interdimensional travel that causes him to be forgotten.
↑For the Demon, the White Mage stops him and explains that there's something that he needs to know before leaving. The Demon asks if it's about Damien and Arkarium, which the White Mage confirms. The Demon explains that at first, he didn't know who to hate between Arkarium, who had been the perpetrator, and the Black Mage, who had given the orders. However, he tells the White Mage that he no longer cares anymore, as neither Arkarium, nor the Black Mage and Damien exist anymore. He explains that he doesn't want to keep living in anger and regret, to which the White Mage is pleased to note that the Demon has made his peace with it. He then asks the Demon to keep moving forward, explaining that it's the duty of those who survive.